


Regal Cats and Magic Hats

by catfishCaper



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Gen, Species Change, although some is pretty mild, anyone who emma dates gets bashed except graham, august bashing, emma has bad luck with relationships, killian bashing, modern au with some magic no one knows about, neal bashing, snow and charming are dead i'm so sorry, walsh bashing, warning for force feeding, well force drinking but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-21 14:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1553675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catfishCaper/pseuds/catfishCaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan finds a cat outside the door to her apartment and ends up taking it in and making it part of her family.</p><p>Years before, Regina Mills discovered magic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Regal Cats and Magic Hats

**Author's Note:**

> Written sort of like an episode of Once Upon a Time, split between present day and the past. Present day is written in present tense and the past is written in past tense.
> 
> Warning for force feeding, although it's more forcing someone to drink something? with magic.

There’s a cat curled up on the doormat in front of Emma Swan’s apartment.

It has black, glossy fur, long and thick. It looks like it’s been well fed, but there is no collar around its neck. She’s never seen it before. She wonders what had happened to its owner.

She really wishes it had picked a better time to do this. Her arms are full of groceries, so full she had to get her keys out of her pocket down in the parking lot because she knew she wouldn’t have been able to get them out of her pocket in front of the door. Normally she would pick up an animal if it somehow made it into the building--this one must have sneaked in when someone else opened the door--and set it by the stairs with a stern look, but she can’t do that with her arms this full, could she?

“Hey. Cat,” she says to it. The cat does not move. “Hey.” She clicks her tongue. It opens its eyes and looks up at her. “I don’t want to kick you. Move.” It blinks slowly, in a way that screams that its attitude is that of some kind of high-class cat deigning to respond to a peasant. “Seriously, if you don’t get out of the way I have to kick you to get inside. That or hit you with the door. Neither of us wants that, cat.”

It yawns, gets to its feet, stretches slowly, then takes a few steps out of Emma’s way and sits down, staring at Emma expectantly. Emma rolls her eyes and unlocks the door to her apartment, then opens the door.

The cat is through before Emma can blink. “Hey!” she cries. She follows it into the apartment, sets her groceries down on the kitchen counter, then looks around for the cat.

There it is, lying on its side on the couch as though it belongs there. She walks over to it and picks it up. It snarls at her, batting at her with its front paws, though it had no claws there. The back paws did, though, and they dug into her arms. Emma does not wince.

“You don’t live here, cat. I’m putting you back out so your real owner can find you,” she tells it, then marches out the door, sets the cat on the ground, and closes the door to her apartment before the cat can get back in.

She ignores the yowls and scratching she hears. Damn thing doesn’t belong to her, she doesn’t need to take care of it.

Henry, who comes home about an hour later, disagrees. “If she doesn’t have a collar it means she’s homeless, Mom! We have to take care of her!”

“She could be an indoor cat that ran away, Henry. And we don’t have to do anything,” she replies.

“Then shouldn’t we keep her safe until her owners put up signs or something? It’s the right thing to do.”

Henry is always talking about what is and isn’t the “right thing to do,” probably because he spends more time reading books about fairy tales and heroes than out with friends. Still, he’s right. It is the right thing to do.

“We’re making signs, though. In case someone comes looking,” she tells him, and he grins.

“Great! I’ll go let her in.” He rushes to the door.

“Wait! How do you know it’s a she?” Emma asks him.

“I checked before I came in.” He opens the door and the cat slowly slinks in, and is it...glaring at Emma? She glares back at it. “And the right word for female cat is _queen_ , Mom. I think.”

\---

When she was younger, and she still dealt with the bad things that happened to her by wallowing in depression until something happened, Regina Mills met Tink. Two people meeting each other was nothing unusual, it was who Tink was that made her so special.

Tink, Tinkerbell, was magical. She could do actual magic with the wave of a wand and a sprinkling of pixie dust. Regina was literally enchanted. And Tink, lovely, kind Tink, swept her into the world of magic, introducing her to wizards and witches and people like Tink, who apparently was a real life fairy.

She warned Regina that magic was dangerous. That was the first thing she told her when she saw Regina eyeing her wand, the hunger for power in her eyes clear as day. It was dangerous, but used correctly it was also a great tool. Regina reminded her that all tools could be used as weapons, and Tink was delighted that Regina understood.

They were still young, and Regina was so lonely since the death of her fiancee. Tink took pity on her.

“I have a spell that can lead you to your true love,” she told Regina excitedly.

“My true love is dead,” Regina replied tiredly.

“Well, if the spell doesn’t work, then we know that’s true. But it couldn’t hurt to try, right? Don’t you want to find someone new, get over Daniel?”

Regina nodded reluctantly. Tink grinned and cast the spell.

They were led to Boston, Massachusetts, to a small corner store that was mostly empty aside from a beautiful young woman, her baby boy, and a bored-looking checker. “It’s the girl,” Tink told her. “She’s your true love, Regina.”

Some girl who looked barely a day over 18 who already had a kid? A likely story.

“Go talk to her!” Tink urged. They were keeping a good distance from the girl and her baby and whispered to each other so as not to be overheard, but now Tink was trying to end that. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Scenarios ran through Regina’s mind. So much could go wrong. The girl could be awful, or the father of her child could come over at any moment, or she would just get rejected.

“I can’t,” she said to Tink.

\---

The cat certainly acts like a queen, the way it struts about the apartment (which luckily does allow pets) and turns up its nose at the leftovers Emma offers it for its dinner. She sighs.

“I’m not buying you special fancy cat food. Eat what I give you or don’t eat.”

She looks genuinely offended at Emma’s words, but begins to eat the salmon scraps on the plate. She glances back up at Emma, who is watching her, then goes back to eating, much faster. Emma feels smug over this victory, and then she feels stupid, because she had been gloating to herself about getting a cat to eat her leftovers.

They make lost cat signs and post them around the neighborhood, though it’s obvious Henry wants to keep her forever. This is made especially obvious by the fact that he gives her a name.

“Regina? Really?” asks Emma, one eyebrow raised.

“She just acts so regal, Mom. Regina means queen.”

Emma glances over at Regina. “Guess you’re right. But still, don’t get attached. Her owners will come by any day to pick her up, and then you’ll have to say goodbye.”

Regina shoots her a look that seems to say, ‘I wouldn’t bet on that.’ This doesn’t affect Emma nearly as much as the crestfallen look on her son’s face.

Luckily for Henry, no one comes for Regina, and as the weeks passed, she becomes more and more ingrained into their home life. She sleeps at the end of Henry’s bed, and wakes him up at seven on the dot every morning by walking all over his face. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. She is always waiting at the door for them to come home, from school or work or otherwise. Even when Emma has to take a late shift at the precinct where she works, Regina is waiting for her. It’s...kind of touching.

One of the downsides to having a pure black cat is all the fur that got all over her clothes. She can never wear white again. And the dogs at work seem to notice the smell of cat on her and won’t stop jumping all over her, though they’re supposed to be trained not to do that.

“Sorry!” Graham, their handler, tells her every time she finds herself knocked over by a German shepherd. He always offers her a hand and a smile when it happens. All in all, it’s actually not that bad.

\---

Tink and Regina drifted apart after that incident. Regina missed her friend, but it was okay. She had new friends, new magical friends, and they were much more powerful than Tink ever was. They understood Regina.

They said they would help her but she could tell they were planning to use her for their own advantage. She would just have to do so to them first.

She met a man who she was told to just call Mr. Gold. He was skinny, and his hair was long, and he was the most powerful wizard in the world, according to reliable sources. He smiled at her when he met her.

“Cora’s daughter.”

A chill went down Regina’s spine. “How do you know my mother?” she asked him, a little scared. Okay, a lot scared. Thinking about her mother made Regina...unhappy.

“She was my protégé, my pièce de résistance. I’m surprised she never told you about me,” he said easily, but she had seen the way his eyes flashed angrily when she asked how he knew Cora. 

“My mother knew magic?”

He chuckled. “Oh, dearie. It seems there are many things you don’t know about your mother. Come with me. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” He took her away to his home, using his walking stick as a magic staff to swirl the air around them into thick, dark clouds that dissipated when they reached their destination.

She wondered why the world’s most powerful wizard would need to use a cane. She didn’t ask.

\---

Regina avoids her for days after she comes home far too early one morning smelling of Graham. The first thing Emma thinks of as an explanation is that Regina was jealous, but that’s ridiculous. Right?

Henry doesn’t think so. “She really cares about us, Mom, and when you leave like that for someone she doesn’t even know of course she’s going to get jealous.”

“So you’re saying I should bring him over?”

“It couldn’t hurt, right?”

So she brings Graham over a week later (and staunchly ignores the heartbroken look she gets from Killian Jones down the hall when he sees the two of them holding hands) to meet Regina and Henry. Their relationship is moving _much_ faster than Emma is used to, but it isn’t a bad thing. He seems to be a really genuine guy, unlike Walsh, who had been playing her the whole time, and Henry’s father, who she refuses to even think about.

Regina _hates_ Graham.

She tries to trip him at least four times, hisses at him whenever he comes close to her to try to pet her, and even jumps on him to attempt to claw at his chest by the end of their meal. Luckily she has no front claws, but he is still shocked and a little upset by the time the night is over.

“Animals have always really liked you, huh?”

He smiles weakly. “Your cat is the first to ever try to attack me, at least. Where did you say you got her?”

“She just sort of showed up in front of the door one day, and Henry decided to take her in.” Apparently that was a bad answer. “We took her to the vet, she’s had all her shots and everything. We just don’t know where she came from.”

“Well, she’s loyal, at least. But I don’t think she really approves of me.”

Two options appear before Emma. There is the option to continue whatever she has going with Graham, regardless of Regina’s feelings. And then there is the option to end her relationship with him and go back to her comfortable, sort of lonely life with her son and cat.

But it isn’t lonely, and that’s _because_ of Henry and Regina.

Graham completely understands her reasoning. “If my dog didn’t like a girl I brought over, I know it wouldn’t work out between us.” He still looks sad, though. Emma feels a little bad, but then she thinks of the pissy cat and Henry waiting behind the door and decides it’s for the best.

She’s glad they part on such good terms, too. Her last three relationships (four if you count Neal, but she refuses to consider him a part of her life, ever, though he was in such a big way) ended disastrously. First there was August, who promised her dirt on her birth parents. He did deliver, though his dirt was quite literal, and six feet deep. She punched him in the face in front of the gravestones of Mary Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan. 

And then there was the thing with Killian down the hall, who had been way too in love with her and she just hadn’t been able to handle that. He still was in love with her, it seemed, and that was always fun to be reminded of every time they passed on the stairs or in the hall. And most recently there was Walsh, who she actually almost got engaged to, until she found out he was an embezzler who was going to take her money and run after the wedding.

She informs Henry and Regina after she escorts Graham to the door that he probably won’t ever be coming over again, and Regina is pleased. She purrs all night without Henry or Emma even petting her, and tangles herself up in Emma’s legs even more than usual. Emma nearly trips three times but Regina doesn’t seem bothered by that fact.

\---

Mr. Gold introduced Regina to all sorts of powerful people as he taught her magic. She met the leader of the fairies, the Blue Fairy, also known as Reul Ghorm, who stiffened and kept her mouth closed when Regina hesitantly asked about Tink. She met a teenage boy called Peter Pan who Gold warned her was older than his years, and to stay away from, and she gladly took his advice after the boy smirked at her as though she were prey. 

She met someone who refused to be called anything but Dr. Whale, who claimed to be able to raise the dead, though the single time he had actually done it was more of a success than a failure, Gold told her. She met a woman with green skin who was called Zelena and turned her nose up at Regina. Gold advised her not to tell Zelena who her mother was and refused to tell her why.

She met many people, too many to remember, but one of the few that stuck in her mind was a man named Jefferson, who dressed in bright colors and a flamboyant top hat and carried a baby girl on his back. His hat was magical, and he used it to travel to many different worlds. He took Regina and Gold for a spin shortly after he met her. They went to a land mostly covered in forest, and indeed it was called the Enchanted Forest, Jefferson told her. Gold explained to her that most with magical powers had ancestors from this place that had come over hundreds of years ago in one way or another. “And there’s always the rare first generation Enchanted Forest citizen,” he added on as an afterthought.

“Are they more powerful than descendants?” Regina asked.

“Much.” He giggled at her awed face. “But I doubt you’ll meet many of them! It’s difficult to cross worlds, as Jefferson will tell you, dearie.”

“Speaking of crossing worlds, we should really be getting back. Grace needs to be fed soon,” said Jefferson. He ushered them back through the portal and out of the hat, which he set back on his head when they were safely back in Gold’s house. He then took his leave, and Gold and Regina were alone in the tiny parlor.

“Did you find that enjoyable, Regina?”

“That’s certainly a useful power he has,” Regina mused.

“But such a boring, specialized one. He can barely cast a fire spell,” replied Gold, sniffing haughtily. “And he refuses to work much anymore. Afraid harm will come to the baby.”

“How did you get him to come here, then?”

“All magic comes with a price.”

That wasn’t really an answer, but Gold apparently didn’t feel like elaborating, just ringing a bell on the table. “I’ve hired a new maid. I think you might like her.”

He smiled fondly upon the girl who all but tripped into the room. “Sorry!” she said when she accidentally stepped on Regina’s foot.

Regina didn’t like her at all.

\---

Emma is the happiest she has been in a long time for the next month. Work is fine, if a little awkward with Graham, but soon it is summer and Henry is spending all day in the apartment with her, and though she wishes he would go outside and hang out with kids his own age she loves him being around so much that she barely says a word. Regina is happy as well. Her son and cat are thick as thieves.

Everything is perfect, until it isn’t, because something always has to come and ruin her happiness.

There is a knock on her door one morning in late June, and when she opens it, it’s Neal. “Emma,” he says, a joyful, smitten look on his face.

She knees him in the crotch, slams the door in his face, and goes to call the cops. Then she remembers she _is_ the cops, and so she just calls Ruby Lucas, one of her best friends, because it’s quicker than going through 911 and the usual channels.

Neal is still there when three cop cars, full of people she knows and trusts, show up. He is demanding to see his son, who is hiding in the bathroom under Emma’s orders. She checks on him every ten minutes or so and he is peacefully sitting in the bathtub, Regina in his lap, reading another one of those Harry Potter books.

Emma explains the situation to the police officers who come for Neal and they promise to keep him detained as long as they can, and suggest that she find a place to stay that isn’t her home in the meantime. She agrees that it’s for the best, but where is she going to find a hotel that accepts cats? It’s not like she can leave Regina behind, she would go crazy and probably destroy everything. Plus, how would she feed her? Groom her? Scoop her litter box?

Regina chooses that moment to rub up against her legs, which means that Henry must have let her out of the bathroom, which means Henry must have left the bathroom as well. She turns around in alarm--what if Neal sees him? But Neal is already downstairs being read his rights and Henry is on the phone.

“Hello Mr. Jefferson. This is Henry. I’m Grace’s friend. I’m just calling to let you know I won’t be able to come over later because there is something bad going on at my house right now and we’ll be really busy so we won’t have time to come over. Sorry. Yeah. Tell Grace I’m sorry too. Tell her I’ll see her at school when it starts, I promise. Probably. Thanks.” He hangs up the phone. 

“What?” Emma asks.

“I was supposed to go to Grace’s house later, remember? But with all this…” He gestures to the room, and to the officer Emma is speaking with.

Emma feels guilty. Grace is one of Henry’s few friends, and apparently her dad is really reclusive. Hanging out at her house was a rare chance for him. He’s right, though. They really don’t have time to go hang out, not even for an hour, not when they have to find a place to stay and someone who can take care of Regina…

“Henry,” she says. He looks up from his book, which he has pulled out of nowhere and begun to read at the kitchen table. “Call your friend back. And ask if they like cats.”

\---

Regina saw more and more of Gold’s new maid as the weeks passed. She was constantly poking her head in on their lessons, asking how he would like his tea, what she should make for dinner, whether she ought to clean the dining room or the parlor first. Gold answered all of her questions with a patient smile, which was far more than she ever got when she asked a question. She found herself really hating Belle.

And of course Belle knew nothing of magic. She always seemed to come in when they weren’t actually practicing, just discussing theory. Of course these theory lessons were very important to Regina’s magical education, and the girl was just messing everything up! She’d never be a full-fledged witch with her around.

Perhaps if the girl learned of magic, she would leave Gold, fearful of his power and intentions. Yes, and then she wouldn’t be around to bother Regina anymore.

Regina learned the girl’s habits--she always came in to ask about tea at around 3:30 in the afternoon. Regina steered the lesson to practical magic at 3:15, hoping the lesson would last long enough for Belle to see them.

It worked! Belle came in, saying, “We’ve just got a lovely rose blend in, would you like--” and cut herself off when she saw the twin flames on Regina and Gold’s hands. 

“Belle!” Gold cried in surprise, extinguishing the fire he held. “What are you--”

“I can see I’m interrupting something--”

“No, it isn’t what it looks like--”

Regina rolled her eyes and let the flame in her palms dissipate. “Of course it’s what it looks like. We’re doing _magic_. How has she lived with you for so long without knowing about this?”

Gold glared at her, and for a second she regretted what she had done. Just for a second, though. 

“Magic?” squeaked Belle.

Gold sighed. “Yes, Belle. I’m sorry I never told you--”

“You ought to be! _Magic!_ I wish I had known about this sooner, this is amazing, Mr. Gold!” Belle cried, her eyes sparkling. Mr. Gold blinked. Regina scowled.

“Amazing?”

“Yes! I never _dreamed_ magic could be real, but all my life I’ve loved stories about it. And to see it in real life!” she gushed. “I’m so lucky you hired me, Mr. Gold.”

Regina eyed her teacher. Was he--was he _blushing?_ Oh god, he was. This was more serious than Regina thought.

She would have to come up with a more permanent solution to this Belle problem.

\---

It turns out that Henry’s friend’s father doesn’t like much if it means he has to interact with other people. Emma’s seen his type before--she can smell from a mile off he’s been seriously wronged in the past and doesn’t want a repeat of that, so he’s closed himself off from everything, transforming his little girl into his whole world.

It’s a little weird, but Emma can work with it.

When he answers the door to let Henry in, he doesn’t look pleased at all, and he looks even more irritated when Emma forces her way past him holding a cat carrier with an angry Regina inside. “Sorry to impose,” she says, and she isn’t sorry at all. Henry runs off to somewhere else with Grace, leaving Emma alone with the little girl’s father.

“Please, come in,” he replies sarcastically, as she is already inside. “Make yourself at home.”

“Sorry about the mixup earlier. We’ve had a pretty busy day. We’re actually trying to find a place to stay for awhile but we don’t know anyone who can take care of Regina here, and that’s pretty important, obviously.”

“Obviously.” He doesn’t take the bait, doesn’t offer to keep the cat for her. Emma is expecting this.

“Do you have any pets, Mr…?”

“Just Jefferson is fine,” he replies shortly. “And no. Grace had a rabbit once, but it died.”

Emma nods sagely, as though she knows all about pet death. That’s one of the few kinds of death she has no experience with. “That’s too bad. Bet she’d love a furry friend to play with, if even for a few days…”

Jefferson bristles. “If this is your way of trying to force your cat on me--”

Emma’s trained Henry well. She already told him in the car to keep a good ear on their conversation and to come in as soon as Jefferson got testy. Right on cue, Henry and Grace burst through the door back into the front hall.

Grace immediately spots the cat carrier Emma is still holding. “What’s in that?” she asks Emma, who smiles serenely.

“It’s our cat. Her name is Regina. Do you want to pet her?” Grace nods eagerly though her dad is shaking his head in a way that is not subtle at all. Emma sets the carrier on the ground and opens it. Regina stalks out, sniffs the air, and stalks back in.

Grace’s face falls. “I don’t think she likes me.”

“No, she’s just being a brat. Regina, come out of there, say hi to the nice girl.” Regina meows at her. “I have cat treats in my pocket if you’re good.” Reluctantly, Regina leaves the carrier and slowly walks up to Grace.

Henry smiles at his mom as though to say, _We’ve got this one in the bag._ Emma flashes him a quick thumbs up that Jefferson luckily does not see, since he is too busy staring at his daughter and Emma’s cat, probably afraid Regina will bite her and she’ll die or something.

Regina is warming up to Grace and the little girl is so happy Emma feels less bad about forcing her pet on this tiny family for an indefinite amount of time. “It’s too bad she doesn’t have a place to stay, like I told your dad.”

Grace looks up at Jefferson, puppydog eyes in full effect. “We can take care of her, right Dad?”

Jefferson coughs awkwardly. “We don’t exactly have the things to take care of her--”

“She’ll just eat leftovers. And if you need litter we can buy some.”

“Please, Dad?” Damn, Grace is good at this. Her lower lip is trembling and everything.

Her dad sighs. “As long as she stays away from the hats.”

Which doesn’t make any sense to Emma, but Grace nods. “I’ll keep her out of there.” Regina purrs loudly and looks up at Jefferson, who glares at her. Weird.

Emma takes this as a chance to leave to find said cat litter and a cheap hotel room for herself and Henry. “Thank you so much for this,” she says to Jefferson. “Henry and I really appreciate it. And any time you need a favor--”

He nods stiffly. Emma slips out the front door and back to the Bug.

Operation Adder, as Henry calls it, is a success. 

\---

Regina’s solution to the problem of Belle French came in the form of a man with a magic hat and a lovely six-year-old daughter. Or rather, in the form of holding said daughter hostage so she could manipulate the girl’s father.

“I want you to take Belle somewhere, I don’t care where, and leave her there so she can’t come back.”

“It’s not that simple, the same amount of people that go in _must_ come back, those are the rules--”

“Then bring some random person back!” Regina snarled. “I don’t care how you do it, but I want her _gone._ Am I understood?”

Jefferson narrowed his eyes at her but said, “Yes. You’re understood, Miss Mills.”

“Good.”

The deed was done by the end of that week. Gold noticed the absence of his favorite employee almost immediately and unloaded his concerns onto Regina at the start of their next lesson.

“Has Belle spoken with you, did anything seem off when you last saw her?”

Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Only how much she simpered, she wanted to reply, but instead she said, “No, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.”

Gold hummed to himself, but she could see his anxiety roiling just below the surface.

It was for the best, she told herself. That girl was distracting Gold, and in doing so she was hindering Regina’s progress. It was nothing personal, except it was. It so was.

\---

While he and Grace are building Lego skyscrapers and talking about books, Henry overhears her father talking to seemingly no one. “I know your secret,” he hisses, “and I don’t trust you a bit. I’ll play nice around Grace but don’t think I’m stupid!”

He peeks through a crack in the door and discovers Jefferson is talking to Regina, who is licking her paw calmly, as though this strange man isn’t speaking to her at all.

Grace’s dad is weirder than he thought, he thinks to himself.

Meanwhile, Emma is finishing up her transaction at PetSmart--a bag of litter with a small litter box and pooper scooper, plus a bag of cat treats to keep Regina in line while she’s at Jefferson’s house--when her cell rings. She fishes it out of her pocket and answers as she signs the receipt. “Swan,” she says.

_“Hey Emma, it’s Ruby. We just finished booking that guy you called us about.”_

Emma breaths a sigh of relief. “And?”

_“You sure know how to pick ‘em. This guy is wanted on more charges than I want to say on the phone. Most of them are related to petty theft, but all I wanted to say is, even if they can’t get him on stalking you and Henry, he’ll definitely be locked up for a long time. Especially if no one posts bail.”_

“Let’s hope no one does, then.”

_“Yeah, I--wait, what?”_

Emma frowns as the cashier loads her bags into a cart. “Ruby?”

_“Okay so Commissioner Gold just came in and paid his entire bail, like, five seconds ago.”_

“What?”

_“I know, right? Lancelot’s in there explaining everything but--”_

“Why would Gold want Neal?”

_“That’s what I’m saying, Emma! No one knows and he won’t tell anyone.”_

“That’s...freaky.” She rolls her cart out to the Bug and pops open the trunk.

_“He says he’ll keep him at his place until the trial, but…”_

“Henry and I should probably stay away from the apartment. Yeah, I know. Already got a room at Motel 6.”

Ruby makes a noise of protest on the other end of the line. _“You know, my granny runs a B &B--”_

“That’s okay, Ruby. But thanks.”

She hangs up and finishes loading the bags into her car. She closes the trunk and gets in the driver’s seat, where she sits, deep in thought, for a few minutes. What would Commissioner Gold want with Neal? 

She glances at the dash and her eyes widen at the time. She’s been out longer than she thought. Any longer and that Jefferson guy will probably have an aneurysm at Henry being in his little bubble of a mansion.

Luckily the mansion is nearby. She’s there in ten minutes.

Jefferson looks very displeased when he answers the door for her. She hands him the PetSmart bags and breezes past him to find her son. “Henry, time to go.”

He scrambles up from the ground. “See you later, Grace!” he says cheerfully. “Take good care of Regina for me, okay?”

“Yep!” She grins at him and pets Regina, who is lying quietly next to her. Huh. She’s really warmed up to this girl in the past few hours, huh?

Emma takes Henry to their motel room and orders a pizza for dinner. She asks him if he wants to watch TV and he declines, excitedly explaining that he’s in a _really_ important place in his book and that he _has_ to know how Harry does in the second task, whatever that means. She settles for playing Candy Crush on her phone until dinner, then turns on a superhero movie for Henry before he goes to bed.

She knows he’s going to be thinking of this little motel escapade as a fun adventure, and she’s just glad it’s during the summer so she doesn’t have to take him to school. She feels bad for the kid--he’s going to be so bored sitting around this crappy place all day while she’s at work, but it’s for the best. She _won’t_ let Neal near her son.

\---

Gold, of course, found out about Regina’s little plot. But he was all smiles to her when he greeted her and brought her into his house, and waited for her to sit down.

Ropes sprung up from under the arms and legs of the chair, binding Regina to it. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about what you did to Belle? Hmm, Regina?” 

Regina stared defiantly up at her teacher. “She was a hindrance to my progress, Gold. I had to be rid of her.”

Gold sneered at her. “So you had Jefferson take her to another land and trap her there? Oh yes, I know exactly how you did it. And I must say, I am disappointed that you were so _sloppy._ Of course I’m angry about Belle, but I thought I taught you better! Haven’t you learned that everything comes with a price, Regina?” he raged.

Jefferson _told!_ Oh, he was going to get it, just as soon as Gold let her go.

“A fitting punishment would be stripping you of all your memories from the time you met Tinkerbell and of all your magical powers. At least that way I would be able to be secure in knowing you would never try anything like this again.” Regina’s face went white.

“You can’t--”

“On the contrary, dearie! I can do whatever I want! You won’t break those bindings, they’re done with blood magic.” He grinned ferociously at her. “Don’t worry, I won’t take your powers and memories. I have something else in mind.”

He turned around to meddle with some potion implements on the table behind him. Regina swallowed. Whatever he was doing there couldn’t be good.

He turned back around, holding a vial of bright pink liquid. “Just as you trapped Belle in that other land, I will trap you. But not in another land. In another _form,_ and your magic will be sealed as long as you are in that form.” He advanced with the vial. 

Regina was determined not to drink whatever was in that. She forced her mouth painfully shut. Gold rolled his eyes. “That won’t stop me, dearie.” With a wave of his hand, her jaw dropped, and she could not close it.

“Please!” she cried, or at least tried to. 

Gold scoffed and poured the potion down her throat.

There was a bubbly feeling in her stomach, and then everything was suddenly...bigger. Luckily, her hands and feet were no longer trapped. She tried to stand but found herself unable to. She fell flat on her stomach. When she tried to push herself up with her hands, but when she looked at them, they were paws.

Regina yowled. 

“Have fun learning to be a cat, Regina! And, as I’m sure you know, this is one of those lovely little curses that can only be broken by True Love’s Kiss.”

Regina tried to walk again. It was a little easier now that she knew what to do, but she still fell on her face after a few steps. Gold exited the room, leaving the door open for her.

“If I ever see you again after today, sniffing around here, I _will_ kill you,” he said before disappearing down the hallway.

\---

Emma is asked to testify against Neal in court, something she would be glad to do were it not for Henry and Regina. School has started back up again (thanks for the speedy trial, justice system!) and they’ve moved back to the apartment but if she’s in court all day how is she going to work or take care of her son?

She’d explain to her boss, but her boss is Gold, and Gold is Neal’s dad, apparently. So he probably wouldn’t be merciful if she told him she was missing work to try to put her son in prison.

Henry reassures her that he’ll be okay, he’ll have Regina for company, and he’ll just get books from the library instead of the store from now on. Emma is touched.

She’s actually not in court very long, just long enough to give her statement and answer some questions from both the defense and the prosecution. The prosecution, which is the state of Maine as well as some individuals, portrays her as a wronged ex-girlfriend who was in constant fear of being stalked by the villain that is Neal. The defense, however, paints her as some kind of two-bit whore who refused to tell an innocent man about his baby son, completely leaving out the part where he _set her up to go to jail for him._

She’s pretty upset by the time the day is over and the prosecuting lawyer promises she won’t have to come in again. That’s good, because she really doesn’t want to miss more work than she has to.

She comes home to hot cocoa from Henry and cuddles from Regina, who seems to be nicer than usual today. Could she sense how stressed Emma was? Preposterous.

After dinner she bundles up Henry in a blanket with her on the couch and they watch the first Lord of the Rings movie. Thankfully tomorrow is Saturday, so it doesn’t matter if he stays up late following the exploits of Frodo and co. to Mordor.

Though Henry is very into the movie, he falls asleep just after the tall one--Gandalf?--dies. She considers letting him sleep on the couch but she knows what that feels like and he doesn’t need that kind of hell on his back, so she hoists him up over her shoulder and carries him to his bed. He’s already ten, but he’s still so little in so many ways. She presses a kiss to his forehead and goes back to the living room to turn off the movie.

Regina is still lying on the couch, apparently entranced by what is happening onscreen. On a whim, Emma kisses her head too.

A strange shockwave comes from the kiss and Regina disappears in a puff of smoke. When the smoke dissipates, there is a beautiful woman sitting where Regina had just been, her hair slightly mussed, her clothes looking a little worse for wear. Nevertheless, Emma can tell she is something special, despite her slightly disheveled appearance.

She looks surprised and elated for about half a second before her face shows steely indifference. “I suppose thanks is in order,” she says.

What the hell.

\---

Regina did not like being a cat. It took much longer to get places, the food she could scrounge up was absolutely atrocious, and worst of all, she couldn’t use her magic. How was she supposed to break this curse without magic?

She wandered around Maine searching for a more permanent home, because if she was going to be a feline for life she might as well be comfortable. However, no one wanted to take a stray cat in, though they would sometimes feed it. She spent about four years mooching off the kindness of sappy humans.

She dreamed she was human every night. And Gold was always in her dreams, forcing the potion down her throat, telling her true love was the only thing that could break her curse.

That was it! True love!

Her human memories grew fuzzier every day, but she definitely remembered the blonde woman with the baby in the drugstore. That woman was supposed to be her true love.

Now to find her.

**Author's Note:**

> might write more in this 'verse...don't know yet. There are a lot of ways it could go from here but thanks to AP testing and graduating I should maybe wait on that.


End file.
